Lullaby

De: Chuck Palahniuk

Narrado por: Richard Poe

New York Times best-selling author of Fight Club, which was adapted into a major motion picture, Chuck Palahniuk offers a haunting tale. Winner of the Northwest Booksellers Association Award, Palahniuk is one of the rare literary geniuses who has been able to bridge the gap between a cult following and commercial success.

Carl Streator, a 40-something widower and newspaper reporter, has lived a reclusive life since the death of his wife. His latest assignment is to write a series of articles on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. In doing so, he discovers that there is an underlying commonality in the deaths. A children's book, Poems and Rhymes Around the World, containing an African Death chant, is found at the scene of the cases he investigates. Having read the chant aloud, he quickly realizes the lethal power of the words. As he fights against its powerful grip, which has turned him into a serial killer, he enlists the aid of some eccentric compatriots who vow to rid every library and bookstore of the deadly text before further lives are jeopardized. But what begins as a crusade to save lives soon becomes the ultimate game of cat and mouse, as they uncover the truth about the rhyme and are hunted by the force holding Streator captive.

Newsday hails Palahniuk as "one of the freshest, most intriguing voices to appear in a long time." Richard Poe's powerful narration expertly captures every tormented detail of this paranormal thriller.

©2002 Chuck Palahniuk (P)2002 Recorded Books, LLC

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Hilarious satire." (Publishers Weekly)
"Outrageous, darkly comic fun of the sort you'd expect from Palahniuk." (Kirkus Reviews)
"In his last novel, Choke, Palahniuk proved he could write a best seller without sacrificing his trademark biting satire. And in Lullaby, he manages an even more impressive feat by showing himself capable of tenderness as well as outrage." (Booklist)
"This is vintage Palahniuk: weird, creepy, twisted, upsetting, and ultimately a great read for anyone who wants to be scared for pleasure." (Library Journal)

Such an interesting concept

If you could sum up Lullaby in three words, what would they be?

Magic is alive

What did you like best about this story?

I thought the characters were well developed and even though it was a scary idea most show their internal character. The antaganist is a great person to hate

Which scene was your favorite?

When the hero must keep counting to ten to make sure he does not act with the power that he wants to control

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

be careful what you read, words are powerful

starts strong, then doesn't advance very much

Excited by the first chapter, full of possibilities by the end of the first third of the book; but, not much new gets introduced for the remainder. The themes are engaging when first introduced, but gets bland when repeated over and over again. The plot gets too neat, too convenient, too contrived throughout the second half: everything just seems to happen to prove a point instead of having outside motivators (like a morose sitcom).

OK, but a little long in the tooth

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

The performance is wonderful. The story is dark, and can be very depressing at time. It is also a bit long winded. At times, it was a little hard to follow. All and all, it was OK, but not fantastic.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

It ended like I expected.

What about Richard Poe’s performance did you like?

He created each character wonderfully. You could almost see them when he read their parts.

Could you see Lullaby being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

It might be a good TV movie, perhaps on Syfi. I don't know who should star in it. I am not that up on the latest movie stars.

Any additional comments?

The ending is better than the beginning.

Chuck being Chuck

Not for the feint of heart, but if you enjoy his other work you'll love this.

A philosophical giant

Palahinuik in true form. The characters are all gritty and real, some of them you love, and some of them you just want to read the culling song to yourself. I really enjoyed the depth of uncomfortable philosophy involved. Palahinuik brings forth grand ideas and their ugly consequences. He puts the microscope of what is truly wrong, and what it is truly right, using parallels that seem odd but in a way couldn’t be explained any other way. (My personal favorite: “Maybe we don’t go to hell for the things we do, we go to Hell for the things we didn’t do”

The only reason I didn’t give this story 5 stars, however, is because with all the focus on philosophy, the story gets put a little by the wayside. It moved at a slow pace at times, and could even be a bit predictable. This is my third Palahinuik book, and compared to Fight Club, which I read cover to cover in a single day, and Invisible Monsters, this just failed to grab me all the way through. The third act starts to tie all the loose ends together, and then just ends abruptly. Maybe it keeps the magic, maybe it’s supposed to leave you asking questions, I’m not Palahinuik so I will never know. What I do know is I felt a bit unfulfilled at the ending.

All that being said, I really enjoyed this book, Richard Poe deserves a lot of credit for bringing Carl and the rest of the world to life. If You are a fan of the uncomfortable, meaty, and gritty style of Palahinuik, I 100% suggest this book to you

Chuck at his finest!!!

fantastic! one of his best. a must read for any Chuck fan. It’s even better the second go around

Insanity!

How does one rate this book? It is not really a fantasy, though the premise is fantastic (as in "ridiculous", not as in "terrific"). If I had to pick one word to describe this story it would be "insane". The book is a spoof/satire of modern life and has very little grounding in reality so you really have to suspend your belief from the start or you'll never make it through the story.

The reader does a terrific job. So that's worth a star.

There were several points I was about to give up listening because, well, the story is ridiculous, but then there are some parts that are absolutely hilarious. I don't recall any other audiobook that caused me to waffle between laughing out loud (naked wiccan meeting anyone?) and turning the book off. How does this help those who are trying to decide whether to buy this or not? I gave it a star for the laughter.

It is certainly a book you'll either like or really really REALLY dislike. The author goes off on long tirades of made up words (noiseoholics, silenceophobes, etc) which gets rather irritating after awhile. So that takes a star away.

I have never heard or read this author before and have no idea what else he has written. I will probably not buy another of his books though - the long winded tirades were just too, well, tiring to listen to and while there are good parts, the over all story is just too crazy.

I'd give it a 3.5 stars in total but have to choose between 3 or 4 in this rating system. I choose 4 because if you like this kind of insane mockery of reality, it's quite good and very well read, and if you don't like it, you'll HATE this book.

Scary Lullaby

If you could sum up Lullaby in three words, what would they be?

Unexpected Romance Horror

What other book might you compare Lullaby to and why?

Stephen King Books?

What does Richard Poe bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The nonchalant normalcy of the voice describing a horrific event of scene.

Who was the most memorable character of Lullaby and why?

The The female realestate agent/witch (for me). There was a man equally memorable and then 2 more characters just as memorable, but not having as much space as the primary couple.

Any additional comments?

Listen to this. I totally didn't expect what I got from the description OR from the first chapter even! Loved it and pleasantly surprised!!!

Curiously Addictive

This is one crazy book. I loved it. From start to finish, the author provides us with a rich and compelling storyline. Odd and mystical and fun and soulful and sad and confusing and brilliant. Loved the characters and all the “class action lawsuit” flimflams along the way. The story is so unique and fascinating, I couldn’t help but love it. You will too.

Classic Palahnuik!

Maybe this is a love story. Maybe not.

Lullaby is classic Palahnuik. Funny, inappropriate, dark, disturbing and sarcastic. Just what I was hoping for. Nicely done.

I think the excellent narration really elevated an already great novel. Richard and Chuck nailed it..